Kester Edun was seen laying on the ground with his left hand handcuffed to the van

The video which had been uploaded on Facebook attracted wide condemnation from many Nigerians.

The Punch reports that Augustine Ogbonmwan‎, a resident in the area who reportedly captured the brutality on his mobile phone, was also detained.

The victim, who is a father of one from Delta state, was said to have been stopped by the security operatives from the Esigie police division, while he was driving along with a passenger, whom he had given a lift at First Junction, off Sakponba road.

Narrating his ordeal, Edun said: “That Sunday, as I was driving my bus, one boy begged me to give him a lift. As I got to Third Junction, some policemen from the Esigie police division stopped me.‎ With the mind that I did not have any incriminating thing on the bus, I parked and waited. They brought me down and searched me but did not find anything.

“When the boy who was with me was searched, they found an empty pack of cigarettes in his pocket. I did not know what was inside the packet of cigarette. But as soon as they brought the packet out, the boy ran away. I asked them if they would not run after him. But they did not mind him; they were only after‎ me.

“They ordered me to bring my hand and I asked what the problem was. But they did not listen to me. They handcuffed me to the vehicle and threatened to pull me along with the vehicle, adding that I would accept that I was the boy’s accomplice if I was tortured.

“I told them that I did not know the boy or his whereabouts. But they held me and dragged me from First (junction) to Third Junction. People who saw me started asking them what my offence was. So, they (policemen) parked and started hitting me and I did not know what happened afterwards because I fainted on the ground and did not know who was recording. One of them hit me with a wood to see if I was pretending and if I would shout out of pain.‎”

Edun was later rushed to a private hospital by the policemen, where he was again handcuffed to a hospital bed.‎ It was gathered that he was later detained in a cell at the state criminal investigation department for allegedly being a cultist, an allegation he denied.

“I later saw myself in a hospital on Muritala Mohammed Way‎; I did not know how I got there. I asked the nurse how I got there and why I was handcuffed to the bed. She told me that the police brought me there.

“One of them (policemen), who was not among those that arrested me, came, took me away from the hospital and kept me in a cell at the state CID. They said that I was a cultist.

“‎I am not a cultist and have never been one since I was born. I am not against policemen and their job. I want them to release me, because I did not do anything, and give me my phone and money. I remit N5,000 to the owner of the seized bus every day and he has been calculating it since the incident occurred,” he added.

Edun and Ogbonwan were later released on Wednesday evening, May 17, and the erring policemen have been arrested on the order of Abubakar Mohammed the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 5‎.

The Nigerian police through the Public Complaint Rapid Response Unit (PCRRU), earlier disclosed that the video which recently went viral and reportedly shows a man been dragged by the police while chained to their truck was misinterpreted.

In a previous report by NAIJ.com, the police said there is no frame in the video that shows the man being dragged. They said that the man was simply arrested and when he tried to escape he was handcuffed to the truck.

It was gathered that subsequently, reinforcements were called in and the man was put back in the truck before being taken to the station. They also shared pictures to show the men were unhurt.

Meanwhile, watch this NAIJ.com video of a family who lost a member to a stray police bullet: